Gaddafi said Islam will conquer Europe without firing a single shot,”

warns @AmirOhana, one of Israel’s most powerful politicians.

“Europeans must take the Islamist threat seriously,” warns the veteran politician in a long format Visegrad24 interview.pic.twitter.com/D0Tkd5Upmo

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 17, 2025

What makes hospitals so deadly and how can we fix it?

By Walter E. Block

As of the present writing, the specifics of the Israel-Hamas cease fire deal are not yet pellucidly clear. However, we can now begin to see at least the grayish outlines of what will occur, if this is agreed upon. It will be a very bad one for the safety, prosperity, even survival of the only Jewish state on the planet. If a rag-tag group of terrorists can get away with dictating terms to a powerful nation such as Israel, that could become an entering wedge.

What specifics are so far at least thought to be known? Reports the Associated Press: “The deal is expected to include the release of five female Israeli soldiers held by Hamas in the first phase of the agreement, each of whom would be exchanged for 50 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 convicted militants who are serving life sentences.”

Read more…

Peloni:  This is a useful graphic, but it fails to note that there are many aspects of the deal which are yet to be clarified, over which negotiations will be ongoing as the deal unfolds, which will be used by Hamas to prevent a return of hostilities while they stall out negotiations.  Per the Biden camp, so long as negotiations are ongoing, hostilities will be blocked.  This only incentivizes Hamas to prevaricate and drag out negotiations.  Hence, it remains to be seen to what degree the incoming Trump administration agrees with Biden on this position.  In any event, as has been true since the war began, it will fall to Netanyahu to wield the national chutzpah which characterizes a sovereign nation, and make the decision independently, regardless of what the Trump administration insists upon.

One other issue regarding this deal, the condition of those being released, ie dead or alive, is completely unknonwn, and a comprehensive list of hostages, living or dead, being held by Hamas is still not being provided by Hamas.

According to the administration, Israel is not a security ally, tech ally, democratic ally or any other kind of ally.

Shoshana Bryen • JPC •  January 15, 2025

A microchip. (rawpixel)

Is the Biden administration computer illiterate? Is it technology-innovation-unaware? Is it malicious when it comes to Israel? The third seems to be the case.

On its way out, the administration’s “Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion,” announced on Jan. 13, would place new limits on how many artificial-intelligence chips companies, including Nvidia, Intel and AMD, can send to different countries without making special arrangements with the U.S. government. Israel is one of the countries for which they will have to get permission.

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‘Palestinianism’, not Iran, is the greatest threat to Israel. The answer is not geopolitics of regional accords, it’s the defense of the land and its borders against an enemy that lies within them.

Daniel Greenfield | Jan 16, 2025

“And a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.” Exodus 1:8

Every country fights Islamic terrorism alone. What should have been a world war against a common enemy has become a lonely battle in which each country strives separately against a global threat. And within each country, individuals have been abandoned by their governments to face sudden death.

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Peloni:  This deal and Trump’s support for it makes less and less sense…

By Robert Spencer | Jan 16, 2025

It’s bad for Israel, for America and for the world.

That a deal in which Hamas gets to claim victory, gets to keep Gaza and gets thousands of terrorists in trade for a handful of living or dead hostages is bad for Israel is obvious.

But it’s also terrible for America.

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By Walter E. Block

What should President Elect Trump (my oh, my, I like the sound of that!) do in the first ten days of his new administration? Here are some suggestions:

Form a commission to get to the bottom of the ballot box cheating which undoubtedly took place four years ago. The voting patterns alone make a strong case that this did indeed occur. There was a 20 million vote gap between the totals garnered by Biden and Harris. This alone is more than suspicious. Then there was the cemetery “vote,” that went against our next president. It is time, it is past time, to get at the full unvarnished truth on this matter, wherever the chips may lie. At least one Democrat should be on this commission.

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Peloni:  Highly recommended article.  Wurmser explains that the Lebanese national pact has betrayed the Christian-Druze homeland which was formed more than 300 years ago, and their future, and that of the Levant in general, will likely get worse before it can get better.  Read and share widely.

Battle of Ayn Dera in 1711 shows way to avoid domination by Syria, Turkey

David Wurmser | The Editors | Jan 13, 2025

There is a spurt of great optimism on both sides of the political spectrum in the United States, and even Israel, that the Lebanese government, now that it has installed Joseph Aoun as its president, will finally leverage Israel’s devastating victory over Hizballah to assert Lebanon’s sovereignty.

In this optimistic view, the Lebanese government will uphold the November ceasefire between Hizballah and Israel. It will do so by executing both U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, a 2006 measure under which Hizballah was to be removed from south of the Litani River, and U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, a 2005 measure under which all armed factions are to be disarmed and the monopoly of power be returned to the Lebanese government. Moreover, for the first time in five decades, powerful regional forces seem held at bay; the PLO is weakened and Iran and Hizballah are laid waste. Lebanon is back in Lebanese hands. And indeed, the optimists assert, the speech Aoun gave upon assuming office contained language that lends substance to this promise: “The era of Hizballah is over; We will disarm all of them.”

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We can only hope that Trump’s pressure is part of a larger plan to secure Israel’s total victory, not its surrender. 

Avi Abelow | Jan 16, 2025

Netanyahu speaks to Trump   Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO

It seems that the deal brokered under pressure from incoming President Trump is done, forcing Israel to release terrorists and essentially withdraw from Gaza in exchange for freeing some hostages.

I am left grappling with profound confusion and disbelief.

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The “straight path” to Islam is Shari’a. Most Muslims demand Shari’a because they are supposed to demand Shari’a, but they have no idea what they are demanding because lay Muslims are not supposed to know Shari’a. Such knowledge is the preserve of the “scholars”.

ANJULI PANDAVAR | 13 Jan 2025

While political or cultural youth movements are not necessarily created for nefarious political ends, they are easy to manipulate to such ends. The Soviet Union had its All-Union Pioneer Organisation, Nazi Germany had its Hitler-Jugend, China had its Red Guards, the Muslim Brotherhood in its Egyptian heyday had its Kashafa and Jawala youth wings, ISIS had its Cubs of the Caliphate and, of course, the infamous Hamas summer camps. For a totalitarian system to endure, certain conditions have to be met. One of these is the creation, as early as a possible, of a generation that, from cradle to grave, has known nothing but totalitarianism. In its childhood, it will have been thoroughly indoctrinated that good equates to all that is good in the eyes of their leader, whether that leader be dead or alive, and all that is bad is what he says is bad.

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Peloni:  The Mullahs in Tehran are a threat to the Western world.  The resolve to ignore this fact has seen their proxies extending across the world and most notably across South and Central America.

Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” | January 15, 2025

Will the Monroe Doctrine be revitalized in the face of the growing military, economic and diplomatic entrenchment of Iran’s Ayatollahs throughout Latin America?! The Ayatollahs aim to undermine the strategic posture of the US in its own “soft underbelly,” and bring “The Great American Satan” to submission. Against this alarming background, can the US afford to persist in its diplomatic option toward Iran, or revert to President Trump’s maximum pressure economic sanctions, which were proven reversible, while refraining from the irreversible regime-change?!

*”After more than four decades of systematic penetration of Latin America, Iran is reaching its full geopolitical potential in the Western Hemisphere, prepositioning military assets and armaments in the region. Tehran’s goal is to bring the fight to the United States…. Venezuela’s Armed Forces is the first Latin American military to have armed drones in its inventory, courtesy of Iran. In 2021, Venezuela began receiving shipments of Iran-made precision-guided short-range missiles that will likely be used to arm the drones….”  

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Peloni:  Hamas gets a second chance at October 7.

And with good reason.

by Robert Spencer | Jan 16, 2025

Hamas jihadis and their supporters are out in force on the streets of Gaza, celebrating the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal as a massive victory for the jihad terrorist group over Israel and the United States. And they have ample reason to believe that the deal is indeed a victory for them.

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Listen with your ears.

J.E. Dyer, a retired Naval Intelligence officer, blogs as The Optimistic Conservative | Jan 14, 2025

See UPDATE at the bottom. – J.E.

There’s been perturbation from many in the last couple of days, as news media retail a narrative that Trump – and Netanyahu’s delegation to hostage talks – are agreeing to a comprehensive “deal,” nominally to get hostages released, by Trump’s inauguration day, 20 January 2025.

Within the last hour, as this goes to post, AP has reported that a draft agreement has been OK’ed by Hamas – previously a hold-out – and final details are being concluded.  The terms are not advantageous for Israel, in the draft AP has been given.  A key point is that even in full execution, they would not meet Trump’s demand.  Only 33 of 50 hostages believed to still be held would be released.

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Hussain Abdul-Hussain | Jan 14, 2025

Israel is perhaps the most muscular and influential power in the Middle East today. When Israel changes its defense ideology, as per the Nagel Committee Report released last week, the region must take notice.

Under the new doctrine, Israel will not wait for its enemies to build lethal capabilities but will preemptively deny them the pathway to becoming a threat. Islamist Iran and what is left of its proxies remain the top threat to the Jewish State. Turkey is on its watch list. Moderate Arab countries face similar threats from Iran and Turkey, and have an interest in making common cause with Israel.

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Peloni:  Fascinating!  Revelations about ancient practices which were recognized to be ancient at the time, back in ancient Israel.